St Cecilia: Proprium monasticum

Ad Vigilas: Franciscus Le Bannier (died 1867)

Terréna cessent órgana,
cor aestuans Cæcíliæ
cæléste fundit cánticum
Deóque totum iúbilat.

Dum nuptiáli nóbilis
domus resúltat gáudio,
hæc sola tristis cándido
gemit colúmba péctore:

« O Christe mi dulcíssime,
cui me sacrávit cáritas,
serva pudóris íntegram,
avérte labem córpore ».

Ovis leónem sédula
agnum facit mitíssimum:
hic fonte lotus mýstico,
cælo repénte mílitat.

Solvit Tibúrtium soror
erróris a calígine;
factóque fratris ásseclæ
ad astra pandit sémitam.

Te sponse, Iesu, vírginum,
beáta laudent ágmina;
Patríque cum Paráclito
par sit per ævum glória. Amen.

May earthly organs cease, Cecilia’s burning heart pours out the heavenly hymn, completely joyful in God. While the noble house resounds with the nuptial joy, this dove only is sad, and with a  pure heart groans: O my most sweet Christ, to whom love binds me, preserve the integrity of chastity and turn away the fall of body. Thisdevoted sheep makes the lion most meek, and he, washed in the mystic font, immediately fights for heaven.  Sister now of Tiburtius, she frees him from the darkness of error, and when he follows his brother, she shows him the path to heaven. May the blessed bands of virgins praise you, O Jesus, their Spouse; to the Father with the Paraclete be equal and eternal glory. Amen.

Ad Laudes: : Franciscus Le Bannier (died 1867)

Nunc ad coronas pergite,

Clamat suis Caecilia:

Mox ipsa virgo sistitur

Ad judicis praetorium.

Minantis iram despicit,

Et falsa ridet numina:

Jam morte digna ducitur

Puella culpae nescia.

Inclusa perstat balneo:

Ardent calore fornices

Ast urit intus virginem

Divinus ignis fortior.

Intaninatam barbarus

Ter ense lictor parcutit:

Scelus tamen non perficit;

Christus moras dat martyri.

Horae supremae proxima,

Deo sacrandas devovet

Aedes avitas, libera

Volatque ad Agui nuptias.

Te sponse, Iesu, vírginum,
beáta laudent ágmina;
Patríque cum Paráclito
par sit per ævum glória. Amen.

Now hasten to your crowns, cries Cecilia to her kin; and soon the virgin herself stands before the judge’s bench.  She despises his angry threats and ridicules his false gods; so the innocent maiden is declared deserving of death. She remains enclosed in the bath, while the furnaces burn with heat; but stronger yet within the virgin is the divine fire that burns.  Three times the barbarous lictor strikes the innocent: but he cannot complete his crime, for Christ has granted a delay to the martyr. At her last hour, she devotes her ancestral home as a temple to God, free now, she flies to the nuptials of the Lamb. May the blessed bands  of virgins praise you, O Jesus, their Spouse; to the Father with the Paraclete be equal and eternal glory. Amen.

Ad Vesperas: Franciscus Le Bannier (died 1867)

St. Cecilia was originally buried in the Catacombs of St.Callixtus (Catacombe di San Callisto), but in A.D. 821, Pope Paschal I collected some of the remains of the Saints to preserve them from raiders. Her relics were lost, though, but the Pope dreamed of where they could be found. Her incorruptible body was located in what is now the Crypt of St Cecilia in those Catacombs.

Salveto, corpus martyris,

Diu sub antris abditum:

Nova refulgens gloria

Romae, parenti redderis.

Ne flos tenebris areat,

Te Virgo servat virginum;

Rubens cruoris purpura

Stola micante cingeris.

Dormi silenti marmore,

Dum sede laetus coelica

Indulget hymnis spiritus,

Votisque dexter aunuit.

Te, sponse, Jesu, virginum

Beata laudent agmina;

Patrique cum Paraclito

Par sit per aevum gloria. Amen.

  

Hail, body of the martyr, long hidden in the catacomb; shining with a new glory, you are returned  to Rome, your mother. The Virgin of virgins preserves you, that you not corrupt  as a flower in the darkness, empurpled with the red blood, girded with a shining robe. Sleeping within the silent marble, while happy upon a heavenly throne, your spirit given to hymns, your right hand approving our prayers.  May the blessed bands  of virgins praise you, O Jesus, their Spouse; to the Father with the Paraclete be equal and eternal glory. Amen.